hoofnhog Drinking in a bar is a waste of my money. A half a gallon of Crown Royal at about $50 goes a lot further than 10 mixed drinks in a bar. National Park Pass is free. Only two T-Shirts... Dudley Perkins H-D and Zion H-D. Like I said everything I spent was $2677.67. As someone else mentioned, breakfast at the hotel, minimal lunch and a good meal in the evening. I saved a lot of money by having a cooler on my rear seat with recycled bottles for water and free ice from the hotel. CHEAP no, but I do manage my money well. Saved enough that I can go again.

 

We do a lot of road trips and it is getting hard to find decent rooms for $75 with tax. It can be done but is hard. And $25 for food may be a little light. Just my opinion, maybe we are just starting to spoil ourselves a bit on nicer rooms and a little better food. I try not to eat at McDonalds! And a drink at dinner adds to the tab.

 

The older I get, the nicer I want it. Motel 6 and fast food was ok with me at one time. Now I want Best Western (or similar) and sit down service when I eat.

 

I usually will have a good breakfast, occasional snacks thru the day, then a nice dinner. I used to camp but no more -- typically stay at Best Western or Hampton Inn. My total travel costs average about $200-$250 per day.

 

That's a doable budget. But some of the more expensive areas may strain that budget. We like to pick certain spots as "goals" within our rides. Usually every third day we will have a hotel pre booked to keep costs down. We choose places we know will be more expensive, like Vegas etc. There are deals to be had when reserving a room vs just showing up. For example, we paid $115 for a great room in Vegas that include $50 in food/drink vouchers and free parking by booking in advance. The next day we paid $165 for a dump along the PCH. When we head southeast we pre book Nashville and usually get a room by the airport for around 40 bucks. Then we wing it for 2 nights. You get the picture.

 

a super market deli offers a pretty good supper or lunch at a reasonable price. keep your souvenir purchases in check and that alone will keep the expenses down.

 

Yeah, Vegas is crazy. Several years back we stopped at the Golden Nugget, went inside to get a room and they wanted $99 per night. Walked back outside and booked the same room online through the phone for $39 per night.

 

I've only been on one long ride that was almost 2 weeks. It was coast to coast with a couple nights in Vegas for a break. I stayed in hotels every night (50-125), ate good at steak houses every night, went to a bar about every day, bought tee shirts, magnets, shot glasses and all kinds of random crap I needed or wanted along the way then spent 800 to ship the bike home, bought a plane ticket and flew home and it cost me around 3500 on my credit card and another 500 in cash that I used in Vegas.


I'm still paying for it but I feel that for me.. that was going all out. I could do it again much much cheaper if I camped or shopped around for hotels but at that time I knew I was on a trip of a life time and shopping around for a hotel meant finding one next to a outback and had a hot tub.


I think it can be done for about 100-150 per day.

 

I do a lot of riding with several buddies. We leave the spouses home and ride one up. For motels, we now usually go Best Western type of motel, splitting the expenses. No more then two to a room. Occasionally we'll stay at one of the nicer budget motels.

Usually we have breakfast included so there is no additional expense there. We do lunch and dinner usually at family restaurant types of places. They don't cost a whole lot. We ride between 300-350 miles a day, or about 8 gallons of gas. We mostly like to ride through scenic places and don't spend much on tourist places, alcohol or entertainment.

I don't really keep track of exactly how much it costs me but I'm pretty sure it is less than $150 a day. And if I were at home, I'd be spending at least $50 a day on whatever. So the added cost of ride is about $100 plus whatever additional expenses in maintenance, tires, etc of the motorcycle.

 

I tour multiple times per year. I have been able to keep costs at $125/day. But I eat at fast food places and go for cheap motels. This year going to Laughlin River Run I found a Super 8 that with taxes was under $52. It was located so that I got to Laughlin and stayed at my Son's house then hit the same motel on the return trip. I try to do 700 miles a day and on a long trip that saves a couple of days motel bills. I have the breakfast at the motel and skip lunch. Only have the evening meal late after I have checked into a motel. That method helps cover more ground in the 10 to 11 hours that I do per day.

$200 is a little easier goal. Should work out.

I'm headed to Yellowknife next week and even $200/day is more difficult in Canada. No dollar menu at McDonald's. There it is more like $6 dollar menu.